Homewood trustees voted Tuesday to contribute $10,000 toward the cost of researching the pros and cons of creating an intergovernmental water authority with 10 other municipalities.
Four of the village’s five trustees lined up in favor of the $110,000 preliminary study to look at purchasing the water from Hammond, Indiana, through Chicago Heights or through a more direct arrangement with Hammond.
The study, based on efforts by the village of Olympia Fields, is also considering the merits of continuing to obtain Lake Michigan water from Chicago.
But Homewood Mayor Richard Hofeld, whose village gets its Lake Michigan water from Chicago via Harvey, told trustees the village could be better off with an alternative water supply.
“We’re at the mercy of the City of Chicago as far as rates go,” Hofeld said. “We’re looking for a safe and reliable source of water.”
More Top Picks Best Migraine Pillows For Neck Pain
Village Manager Jim Marino agreed.
“They have increased our rates quite a bit,” he said, telling trustees the goal “is to find an opportunity, if not to reduce our costs, at least to try to stabilize the rate.”
One option, Marino said, is to construct a water-treatment plant in or near Hammond, along with water-delivery infrastructure. Robinson Engineering has estimated the five-year project’s cost at $350 million, he said.
That emphasis is consistent with minutes from the Nov. 28 Olympia Fields village board meeting, in which President Debbie Meyers-Martin outlined expectations for South Holland-based Robinson Engineering that emphasized the Hammond connection, including:
* Providing a better cost estimate;
*Clearly defining the right-of-way to be acquired;
*Continuing preliminary negotiations with the City of Hammond;
*Developing a draft intergovernmental agreement, and a cost-benefit analysis.
Homewood Trustee Karen Washington, the study’s lone opponent on the village board Tuesday, warned the potential arrangement with the City of Hammond could strain Homewood’s financial resources, and termed the five-year timeline for infrastructure and a water-treatment plant construction “very short for this type of project.”
Trustee Jay Heiferman, although supporting the study, took aim at ballooning infrastructure costs: “If they say it’s going to be $350,000 it’s going to be $700,000.”
Trustee Anne Colton said she supported funding the study, but “that’s going to be it.”
Barbara Dawkins and Lisa Purcell supported the effort, with Dawkins noting the contribution “is not committing us in the long term.” Purcell said water rates have been “a hot topic in the town for a long time.”
The issue of an alternative source arises roughly five years after half-a-dozen southern Cook County communities joined together as the South Suburban Joint Action Water Agency. Financial or political instability brought down that group before it could complete negotiations with Hammond for untreated Lake Michigan water.
At the Nov. 28 Olympia Fields village board meeting, Meyers-Martin also told trustees instability is not an issue with the current group, which also includes Calumet Park, Country Club Hills, East Hazel Crest, Flossmoor, Hazel Crest, Markham, Matteson, South Holland and Thornton.
Dennis Sullivan is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.